McLaren Mercedes MP4-26 makes track debut at Jerez
The new McLaren Mercedes MP4-26 made its track debut at Jerez today (February 10th). Mclaren was the only team amongst all the top teams, which was yet to make its track debut as the team launched their challenger after the first pre-season testing
at Valencia.
Apart from Mclaren, the other two teams to make their track debut will be Virgin Racing and Force India. Hispania Racing Team (HRT) will not be a part of testing at Jerez.
Both Mclaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be looking forward to gain as much data as possible during the Jerez and Barcelona testing. The lap times will not be important as the cars are still under development.
Most of the teams haven’t finalized their set up for the first race of the Formula 1 season, which starts at Bahrain from the 13th of March, 2011.
All the teams are experimenting with different set ups and the real competition will start from the final pre-season test, which kicks-off in Bahrain from the 3rd of March.
McLaren is the only team which features two former Formula 1 champions. Hamilton was the winner in the 2008 season with McLaren, whereas Button followed with a title victory in 2009 with Brawn GP.
Last year, both Hamilton and Button had a rather up-and-down season and the pair finished fourth and fifth respectively. They will be looking forward to win more races this year and claim both titles; driver's and constructor's titles.
The team will be expecting strong competition from the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers. The Ferrari pair, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, were optimistic about their progress on the 2011 car and they vowed to be stronger in 2011.
On the other hand, Red Bull have also been extremely focused on the 2011 season. By brushing aside rumors of a rift between them, both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have given a clear sign to their opponents that their aggression is resolute, and has
not been affected by the off-field issues.
However, other teams are expected to do well in the upcoming season as well. Amongst those teams are Mercedes GP and Lotus Renault GP, although Renault’s chances are hampered by Robert Kubica's unavailability, who crashed while rallying in Italy. It is interesting
to note here though, that Hamilton has ruled out any chances of Mercedes and Michael Schumacher being a title threat for the season ahead.
All these teams will go head to head at Jerez from today (February 10th) and the testing will continue til the 13th of February, 2011. Although it is a common practice for drivers to write other drivers off before the season actually
begins, it might be a smart move to just wait and let their driving do the talking.
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